The New York City-based Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has announced matching grants totaling $3.5 million to six U.S. theaters through the Leading National Theatres Program, which is part of the larger Theatre Initiative launched in 2000 by DDCF and the New York City-based Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the country's nonprofit theater community.

Selected for their demonstrated artistic excellence, strong organizational capacity, long-term managerial and financial stability, and geographic and programmatic diversity, the recipients are the Actors Theatre of Louisville in Kentucky ($400,000); the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts ($700,000); Center Stage in Baltimore ($600,000); the Intiman Theatre in Seattle ($400,000); the Public Theater in New York City ($700,000); and the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago ($700,000).

The endowment support from DDCF, which must be matched by each grantee, will establish an ongoing source of revenues for artistic programming. As part of the Leading National Theatres Program, the theaters are also eligible for support from the Mellon Foundation for artistic programming such as the commissioning of new plays, residencies, and other artistic endeavors. The program currently supports twenty-three theaters in twelve states and the District of Columbia.

"We are proud to be supporting such a stellar and diverse group of nonprofit theaters producing ambitious and imaginative work for audiences across the country," said Duke Foundation president Joan E. Spero.